These days, nobody does it better than Japan — especially from an American alliance perspective. From standing up to Chinese and Russian aggression to securing reliable supply chains, Japan and America are working together better, and with more urgency to coordinate and cooperate, than any other alliance around the world. In fact, Japan has pushed all its chips into the middle of the table to make an enormous existential bet on America. It’s time to say out loud what policymakers already acknowledge behind closed doors: for the United States, Japan has become the new special relationship in the world’s most important region.
Americans will always have a unique fondness for the United Kingdom where our history, values, and the bond of shared bloodshed, alongside family ties, will keep us forever close. And our intelligence relationship, which has no parallel in the world, will continue to make our alliance enormously beneficial to both Washington and London. However, in terms of pure military and economic value, the UK alliance provides far less than Japan. Given London’s recent economic pandering to Beijing, it has also become a far less reliable ally across the Indo-Pacific.
Geography matters. Japan, sitting at the center of the first island chain, constrains China’s access to the Western Pacific and secures U.S. access to the world’s most dynamic markets. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s public statements have long implied a desire to push America out of the Pacific. When it comes to the deterrence of Chinese aggression and defense of the First Island Chain that the 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy sites as core priorities, Japan is irreplaceable and its naval forces long ago eclipsed those of the UK, Australia, or Europe. Other than Taiwan, no one else in the world is scrambling jets on a constant basis in the face of Chinese air incursions — 366 times in the last year. And when it comes to Taiwan, another vital U.S. interest given its geographic position and its centrality to the AI revolution, Japan is the most forward leaning. While other countries shy away from openly engaging with Taiwan, Tokyo is working with Taipei in public, is collaborating with the United States to reinforce deterrence, and is the most supportive of protecting the status quo across the Strait.
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Ensuring America has access to the Indo-Pacific matters, and without a strong U.S.-Japan alliance this too would be more problematic. Japan hosts approximately 60,000 U.S. service members and contractors, as well as another roughly 35,000 civilians — the largest US military presence outside America. Japan covers roughly 75% of those costs, an average payment of $1.5 billion per year from Tokyo under the current agreement, which is another large bet on America. Japan is also home to the only forward-deployed U.S. carrier strike group in the world, at Yokosuka naval base, providing formidable and constant deterrence near the Taiwan Strait.
And Japan continues to step up, heeding President Trump’s call for broader burden sharing. Japan’s military expenditure rose 9.7% to $62.2 billion in 2025. Under Prime Minister Takaichi’s leadership, Japanese defense spending reached 2% of GDP in 2026, two years ahead of schedule, receiving plaudits across Washington. Japan’s defense budget has set a new record for 12 consecutive years, and the current Defense Buildup Program allocates approximately $275 billion over five years through 2027. This is putting your money where your mouth is when it comes to an alliance.
Japan is also thinking strategically, making sure American allies have the weapons stocks they need by co-producing advanced U.S. weapons systems at scale. Together, we are expanding co-production plans for AIM-120 AMRAAMs and increasing production of SM-3 Block IIA interceptors in Japan by fourfold. This makes Japan a defense industrial partner, not just a consumer, adding to allied production capacity to make up for munitions shortfalls. Integrating 400 U.S. Tomahawk missiles into the Japanese navy alongside the 2025 deployment of the Typhon missile system to mainland Japan increases the Japan Self-Defense Force’s interoperability while introducing real counterstrike capabilities.
At the same time, Tokyo is undertaking the intelligence reforms needed to develop a world-class intelligence community, one that is capable of and should be a “Sixth Eye,” a member of the currently Anglo-centric intelligence sharing club called the “Five Eyes” made up of US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. It’s a historic change for a country concerned with privacy and mindful of the lessons of the past, but it’s needed thanks to Chinese and Russian influence operations and will further tighten the U.S.-Japan Alliance.
Japan’s efforts don’t stop at its shores either. Following the successful Trump-Takaichi Summit in March, the Alliance has shifted into overdrive on critical minerals, establishing price floors, exploring new mining ventures, and bringing our private sectors together. At the same time, the Takaichi government has continued policies that shore up relations with Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, strategic arenas very much at play in the broader competition with China. In Europe, Japan has been a major donor to Ukraine as well, pledging $6 billion in 2026 alone and providing $8.7 billion in budget support since 2022. When it comes to Africa, Japan has pledged $30 billion since 2022, moving to business-oriented partnerships which place trade over aid, in line with Trump Administration policies.
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In recognition — or maybe fear — of our closeness, China has tried to squeeze Japan by repeatedly sailing into the Senkaku Islands and by restricting its access to critical minerals. Beijing has even detained Japanese businessmen in Beijing in blatant instances of hostage taking. The result has only been to harden Tokyo’s resolve and emphasize the urgency of acting in concert with America.
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We are truly in a golden moment with Japan, where we stand shoulder to shoulder to protect our shared interests, our supply chains, and defend our allies and partners across the globe from malign actors. In meeting after meeting, at levels high and low, it’s clear that Japanese and American officials see the world, both its opportunities and its threats, from the same clear-eyed perspective and agree on what to do about it.
Washington should acknowledge this by admitting Japan to the Five Eyes club when it’s ready, standing up multiple defense co-production facilities on Japanese soil, and working with Tokyo to develop critical minerals processing plants across the world with jointly-financed processing and offtake agreements.
If only every other relationship was this special.
